Social media is almost a given. With over 141 million Americans on Facebook and over 600 million worldwide, according to Compete.com, 31 million on Twitter, and 100 million on LinkedIn, it is rare to convene …

From Egypt to Wisconsin, in the streets and on smart phones, observed Tom Watson, activists are finding their voices and finding their fellow citizens. At a panel discussion on Government and Philanthropy at NYU’s Heyman …

Even as we witnessed drastic shifts in the very system of capitalism that supported the growth of social entrepreneurship in its more enlightened margins, 800 delegates from 60-odd countries flocked to the 900-year-old University of Oxford last week for the annual Skoll World Forum – the sixth formal gathering of the leadership of the blended social sector that may well have to redefine its own model on the fly to keep up with a decimated marketplace.

Back in my newspaper days, we had a tradition that made a lot of good sense: a yearly editorial that discussed the newspaper itself in some detail – its ownership, history, business aims and future plans. If the community spent any time on our pages, and came to trust our reporting and outlook, then it deserved some disclosure and transparency in return for its quarter.

We do not have an advance copy of President–Elect Barack Obama’s inauguration address just at hand, but it’s no particular leap of faith to predict that a national call to public service will be issued from the west front of the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World, a new book by onPhilanthropy publisher Tom Watson on the rise of online social activism.

“Can we just put up a site like Barack Obama’s?”

Most of the old Palace of Westminster was lost in a disastrous fire in 1834, and much of what was rebuilt to form the modern Parliament chambers of Great Britain by the Victorians was damaged …

Stronger communities and motivated employees create a double bottom line that should encourage corporate philanthropy, even in challenging economic times; that message was clear during the day of festivities and discussion marking National Corporate Philanthropy Day Monday, February 25.

Ingrid Munro of the Kenyan microfinance agency Jamii Bora spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Microfinance Club of New York, and she stopped by onPhilanthropy for an interview.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon looked around the Starlight Roof at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel last night at the tables filled with philanthropists, foundation officers, nonprofit executives and social entrepreneurs and struck a hopeful note of collaboration in his remarks at the annual Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Symposium.

When it comes to changing the world, you don’t need to know everything to begin to make a difference. That was the message of several major philanthropists this weekend at the Greenbrier, where the Wealth & Giving Forum convened prominent families, experts in the field of water and poverty alleviation, and other leaders in an atmosphere that encouraged open discussion of philanthropy and its place in the world.

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I started a bank and now we make loans to businesses all over the world. Now, before you speculate on my family wealth or means – and my place among the banking titans – consider that we started this little lending institution of ours with $250.

The question seems to be floating about all the philanthropy conferences and charity blogs: Can old-line traditional foundations compete in the changing world of philanthropy?

The halls of the Beverly Hilton are draped with elegant black and white photographs of stars from Hollywood’s golden age. Among the 3,000 attendees of the 10th annual Milken Institute Global Conference – the philanthropists, media titans, private equity chiefs, and economists – mingle the tastefully-framed images of Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, and Lauren Bacall.

Through his foundation and the Skoll Centre at Oxford, eBay billionaire Jeff Skoll has emerged as the leading light of the social entrepreneurship movement, which began as early as the 1980s, when technically savvy entrepreneurial types first sought to bring their brand of disruptive change to the world’s problems.

One of the signature cultural moments in the globalization of the economy will unfold this Sunday, amidst the roar of high-octane engines at the Daytona International Speedway. Sure, there are some grumblings in racing-obsessed quarters about the entry of Toyota-branded stock cars for the first time in the history of a sport that began with moonshiners running souped-up jalopies to escape the hated revenuers. But it’s the fine print that counts: NASCAR, that most American of sports federations, has changed the qualifying language for high-tech machines that barrel along curved tracks at 200 miles per hour. For the first time, “American-made” has been replaced in the rule book by “American-assembled.”

When the great histories of American philanthropy are set to paper a generation from now, 2006 will be remembered as the Year of the Titan – a time when massive sums were committed to noble causes and the very definition of “philanthropy” began to change from the top down.

Never has the world of brands and consumer culture been more closely aligned with philanthropy and the human desire to change the world for the better. World leaders, captains of industry, rock stars and mega-athletes. They’re all embracing philanthropy in the new 21st century, bringing a “win now” mentality to the marketplace, and vowing to see to it that their dollars really do bring about change.

Peggy Conlon is CEO of the Ad Council, which each year mobilizes more than $1.8 billion of advertising time and space, the creative services of over 50 major advertising agencies, and related financial support from hundreds of corporations, all in service of causes and nonprofits. Recently, the Ad Council announced its Generous Nation campaign, designed to make American more aware of philanthropy to inspire them to volunteer and to give.